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      Man of Marble

      Released Feb 25, 1977 2h 40m Drama List
      75% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 85% Audience Score 500+ Ratings In repressive mid-1970s Poland, documentary filmmaker Agnieszka (Krystyna Janda) begins work on a film about Mateusz Birkut (Jerzy Radziwiłowicz), a bricklayer who had briefly been hailed as a hero of the proletariat in the 1950s, but then disappeared into obscurity. In piecing together details about the bricklayer's mysterious life, she discovers that his involvement in organized labor had been viewed negatively by party bosses, and that her own investigations could put her in danger. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

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      Jan Dawson Sight & Sound An ultimately optimistic film. Mar 17, 2020 Full Review Michael Blowen Boston Globe Man of Marble, a 1977 Polish film by Andrzej Wajda, evokes the comic creation, and tragic desecration, of a national hero with savage brilliance. Apr 28, 2018 Full Review Judith Martin Washington Post Audiences less anxious to help the film say things they want said will find this point obscured by the clumsy celebrity-fan approach employed as a dramatic device. May 9, 2017 Full Review Giuseppe Sedia Kino Mania [Wajda] smells a turning point in Poland’s history. He connects the fate of the Stalinist-era workers of Nowa Huta with the struggles of their sons and daughters. It is startling that such an overtly political film got past the censors of the time Rated: 4.5/5 Jul 26, 2023 Full Review Fernando Trueba El Pais (Spain) The plot is not bad, but the characters are non-existent... [Full review in Spanish] Feb 8, 2018 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Superior political pic. Rated: A- Feb 7, 2013 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Tony S A very interesting and well shot look at Soviet propaganda about quotas and workers in 50's Poland, through the eyes of student filmmaker trying to make an indepth film about a cast down bricklayer icon. An investigation type approach to the story and the contrast between movies and reality, is what makes it really stand out and grip you because just like the character you only get snippets of truth, sometimes in isolation. It really is a standard story, about a man trying to not betray his conscience in the face of his country's policies and other people's nature. It also is a first part of a split narrative, with a really lackluster cliffhanger. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/22/21 Full Review s r 1001 movies to see before you die. An ambitious and important film. However, it dragged for me. I also didn't care about any of the characters. The female was unique, but I didn't identify with her stubbornness and the Statue man was aimless (just like communism). The funky song at the beginning and end was memorable. Regardless, it was reasonably well made and is an important work against communism. It was on youtube. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A brilliant study of the self-defeating evil nature of Communism. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member A Polish film student decides to film her final project on the working class heroes of 50's Poland, and particularly on Birkut, a man whose image was exploited for propagandist reasons and who seems to have disappeared. Wajda once again explores the horrors that Socialism brought to Poland in the fifties - he does this in a stylistically rich way, with different stock footage that makes the film look effective and authentic with its close resemblance to a documentary. Both lead characters in the parallel storylines are very interesting, the brave young film student eager to unearth the truth and complete her film, and the figure of Birkut, a seemingly normal man, yet political rebel. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Still seems a masterpiece.. Like many, imperfect.. but few films capture so much about a country and culture and the realities of living in Eastern Europe during the "HIgh Stalinist" years. the two lead characters are totally engaging ( though they exist across a 25 year divide). Captures too some of the vague hopes of communism... All is so human. the lack of heavy irony is so appreciated. Really close to a masterpiece and one that hold up because it provide so much of increasingly (but always pretty hidden) histroy Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Adopting a narrative and structure not dissimilar to "Citizen Kane", Andrezej Wajda's landmark Polish film "Man of Marble" deconstructs the myth of a communist porter boy and proletariat bricklayer Birkut through the investigative documentarianism of a determined film student (the iron-forged Krystyna Janda). Though intermittent flash back recreation of days of Stalinist communism and politically conscious present day dramatization (present day being 1976), Wajda is uncannily able to both scathingly disect Poland's political past while simultaneously anticipating its future. Old newsreel footage is seamlessly edited into the mix, while the cast deliver naturalistic performances fitting this type of docucrama. *** out of **** Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis In repressive mid-1970s Poland, documentary filmmaker Agnieszka (Krystyna Janda) begins work on a film about Mateusz Birkut (Jerzy Radziwiłowicz), a bricklayer who had briefly been hailed as a hero of the proletariat in the 1950s, but then disappeared into obscurity. In piecing together details about the bricklayer's mysterious life, she discovers that his involvement in organized labor had been viewed negatively by party bosses, and that her own investigations could put her in danger.
      Director
      Andrzej Wajda
      Screenwriter
      Aleksander Ścibor-Rylski
      Distributor
      New Yorker Films
      Production Co
      Film Polski Film Agency, Zespół Filmowy "X"
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      Polish
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Feb 25, 1977, Original
      Release Date (DVD)
      Oct 28, 2003
      Runtime
      2h 40m
      Sound Mix
      Mono